


Our little moments

by schulott



Series: And we find home in each other's arms [8]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Belgian GP 2021, Future Fic, M/M, Slice of Life, Summer Break 2021
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 07:48:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30035406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schulott/pseuds/schulott
Summary: When Mick comes back from the shower, they are still recording, as Mick opens the door to the office quietly and steps in just enough to be seen by both of them, as Callum is talking about how Marcus goes to the gym way too much that he might as well just buy a gym and live there permanently. Marcus spots him first, and waves at him silently, while Callum is alerted to his presence by Marcus’ actions, and he quickly wraps up his point.“Let’s put a cut in here,” he says, scribbling down something on a paper before walking over to give Mick a quick hug. “Hey.”“Hey yourself. How’s the podcast?”(Or: just schulott and their moments through the summer break, and going back to the limelight of racing)(Near-)future fic surrounding the 2021 summer break and Belgian GP.
Relationships: Callum Ilott/Mick Schumacher
Series: And we find home in each other's arms [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089959
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Our little moments

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of these characters, and this is a work of fiction. This is not intended to be any reference to, or be any likeness to any people or events in real life. No economic value of any kind has been produced in writing this.
> 
> This is a long time coming partly because I work ~75 hour weeks these days and on Sundays I sleep, procrastinate and struggle to write. Finally managed to write the last few sections of this instalment after much struggles today.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

**10 August 2021**

_ Tuesday 14:31 CET _

After the day trip down to Florence, they have spent the next few days mostly cooped up in the house, as they went on and binged one of the series on Netflix that they have been watching, finally getting the opportunity to catch up on the episodes that they have fallen behind with traveling across the continent for races and catching up on rest otherwise being the predominant tasks they had that hindered them from watching.

Aside from the hours they spent sprawled out on the couch and the floor with their eyes trained on the television, exchanging comments and jokes here and there about the turn of events on screen and getting invested in the story in general; they have not done a lot, in substance, when Mick thinks about it. The most Mick could think of that is not lazing around in the past three days is when he and Callum sat down at their sims and raced each other on iRacing in a private lobby of just the two of them with various different cars, or the other games on the consoles that Callum gets him to play, the times when they work together in the kitchen to make food, and the training sessions that Mick has started doing again daily late in the evenings, that he gets Callum to join him, or to at least spot for him when Mick is doing weights.

But otherwise, it has been relatively uneventful, when you consider their usual life that consists of traveling around, facing the press, jumping in the car and go around at 300 kph, battling other drivers with multiple G’s exerted on themselves at any given corner or braking point that they travel through, or sit in the simulator going around the same track again and again with the singlemind of improving at the track and working in a team of people on a near-daily basis.

Regardless though, Mick is feeling a bit more relaxed than usual, without the constant reminder of the scrutinisation he faces on and off track, with the press and other prying eyes held away at a long distance, and the pressures of competing in the sport momentarily set aside with it not in the forefront of what he does everyday, aside from the effort he puts in to keep himself fit enough for the car. Instead, he gets to spend all the time he has with Callum, witnessing his silly shenanigans on the internet as well as in person; regularly seeing the wide grin that crinkles his eyes gracing his face when he has done another funny thing that draws an amused laugh out of Mick with a fond shake of head; the time they just spend in the presence of each other, feeling the comfort of the peace of the atmosphere surrounding them, be it in bed, in the living room, or hanging out in the pool, sometimes talking about everything in life, anything that comes to their mind, and not just about racing.

Mick has also called home, talked to his mother on facetime, as well as his sister who happened to be visiting when he called. It is a habit of his at this point, and the fact that he always holds his family dear to his heart, so he always makes the time for them. They talk about things outside racing, like Gina’s latest with her horseriding and running the stables with their mother, what she is up to lately in the States where she is also running their family ranch in Texas. He hears about the fair weather back at home, letting a long suffering moan as he complains about the persistent heat that shrouds them as Italy experiences one of the hotter summers on record, and Mick having to live through it. Both he and Callum mostly live without a top these days inside the house, as their shirts are going to be drenched in sweat anyway.

Callum had passed by him at the kitchen counter while he was on the call, coming back from picking up something at the factory. Mick had just patted him on the arm without even looking, mid-conversation with Gina, until he sees his sister’s meaningful look that she is shooting him through the screen, and he calls out to Callum to drag him back to wave at the camera, before letting him continue with whatever he was going to do. He huffs at his sister, who looked infinitely pleased at what she saw, commenting that they are cute together.

He sees Callum with his back turned to him, chopping up things on the board, with ingredients laid out on the kitchen counter, opposite Mick, when he wraps up the call and closes down the laptop. Mick takes a moment to just watch Callum do his thing, letting himself take in the sight, knowing that this is something he gets to see and finds himself in these days, the domesticity of it all that it is not a fever dream that his brain conjures up, but reality.

“Come help me out, will you?” Callum asks, as he turns around, with raised eyebrows, though it is quickly replaced with a soft smile on his face when he looks at Mick, and Mick knows he must have a dopey look on his own face judging by the indulgent look that quickly graces his boyfriend’s face. Mick complies, nonetheless, pushing himself off the stool and rounding the island to where Callum is, pressing a kiss on his cheek, the first one since Callum got back from Ferrari, before turning to look at the counter to see what he can do to help.

Over lunch, they talk about the plans for the week, with a week of the break gone already, and Mick gradually ramping back up his training (and pulling Callum along with him), they want to make the most out of their down time around the fixed tasks they have penciled into their schedules, like training and one or two meetings with the team, as well as the Virtual GPs that Callum is likely to take part in. Callum is torn between marvelling at the fact that Mick does not even need to try to get out of being asked to take part, or being offended at the fact that Mick is not even considered as an option for the events (not that Mick is inclined to participate, knowing him).

Regardless, they again bring up their plan to go and do some mountain biking together, after having put it off several times already over the past few weeks as one thing or another came up and took precedence over it. Remembering their recent conversation about it, Callum nudges Mick in the side, saying that Mick could finally show how good he is at it, that he can claim that only Callum is the one who has no idea with all the gear between the two of them. Mick takes that as a challenge, just shrugging and saying that Callum would see it for himself soon enough.

* * *

**11 August 2021**

_ Wednesday 09:21 CET _

Callum had contemplated asking Marcus for recommendations of places, before he remembered his best friend mostly sticks to road biking, and that he is the true epitome of ‘all the gear, no idea’. Luckily though, one could always trust Mick to be prepared, or at least that he knows where he could figure out things like these, as he had come back with a bunch of photos and a map on his tablet later in the evening, pointing out places near Maranello that are not too far from them and would not be exceedingly challenging. They had talked about it, before finally settling on one of the combinations of trails that could form a loop for them to cycle on, and is accessible enough for them to travel to and from.

With their bikes reassembled, and suited up in gear, Callum follows Mick down a dusty trail in the woods between trees, bushes and fallen branches that leads down hill, both of them picking up speed as they duck through bends in the trail and climbing some elevations in their path, following the barely marked route that is only recognisable for the fact that there are tyre tracks that they could follow. They continue for minutes, until they reach a wider clearing, and both of them pull to the side to pause momentarily.

“You okay Cal?” Mick asks, as Callum stops next to him, shaking his arms to relieve some tension from when he held the handlebars just a touch too hard making a sharp turn a few kilometers up the trail, knowing that he should have just stayed loose since he is tackling the terrain and rolling himself and his bike over it.

“Managing so far. We’d be fine as long as we’re not going to do those ridiculous jumps you see people do on YouTube.” He affirms, “you know, I have no idea, afterall.”

Mick shrugs with his eyebrows raised. “We’re not doing anything crazy, but also don’t pretend you’ve never done this before.”

He has to concede that Mick is right, it is just that it is obvious the German has done this much more often than he has. He tells Mick as much, and also that he does not want either of them injuring themselves unnecessarily, as fun as this is.

“We’ll be fine,” Mick reassures him, “come on, let’s get going.”

Callum has to say that the trail they have selected must be on the easier side of the scale, as he has not faced much difficulties at all navigating through it, while Mick has breezed through it gracefully, maintaining control of his bike gracefully as they meander through the rough terrain, showing his bursts of strength and energy as they dash up the inclines, and the undulation of the crests and troughs of the path they are on. Callum manages to keep up for the most part, despite his lack of practice of riding in these sorts of circumstances, and he could feel the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins as he does so. He can certainly see why Mick likes doing this as much as he does, considering the rush he gets out of it, that they get the thrill from it while doing it on their own, without the scrutinisation of anyone.

They switch positions, with Callum leading the way somewhere midway through the looping path, as Callum takes them down a slightly muddy path that leads up to a sharp bend, and he goes sideways akin to a MotoGP rider as he powers through the corner, leading them out to a part of the path that gets wider, but also seems to be a vicious downhill section with bumps and small ramps here and there along the way, and the path disappearing into the trees after a bend at the bottom. He slows down to wait up for Mick, calling over his shoulder. “You sure this is the right way?”

Instead of slowing down as well, Mick just yells an affirmation as he dashes down the slope, keeping hold of the bike as he runs across the bumps in his path. Callum starts peddling as soon as Mick darts past him, leaning lower to keep his center of gravity low as he follows Mick down to the bottom and into the narrow pathway between the trees, letting out a laugh as he does so.

* * *

_ Wednesday 12:04 CET _

They ended up doing a few loops of the path, branching off into detours and shortcuts as they come back around to sections with alternate pathings, kicking up mud and dust as they power through on the loose surface, only stopping for a drink, or to look out over the clearing the one time they come across an opening on the side of the path that lead to a cliffside opening that looks out into the expanse, where they can see a village in the distance down in the valley.

When they finally get back to the car, their bikes and gear all dirty from the soil, dust and mud they have kicked up on the way, they are proper sweaty and a little out of breath, and probably a tiny bit sore as well as they might as well has used every single muscle in their body as they wrestled their bikes on the trail and powering themselves forward, while also keeping themselves on the bike.

He leans his weight against Mick’s side as he opens up the back of the Alfa, where Mick has put their spare change of clothes, because he had the foresight to do that.

“You’d have complained about getting grime into your car.” Mick says, as he nudges Callum off him and proceeds to strip himself out of the sweaty shirt he is wearing and picking up his own dry t-shirt. Callum is still catching his breath when he does so, and cannot help but stare at Mick, as he continues to stand there. Mick catches onto that quickly.

“Cal.” He glares at Callum in warning, and he is right that they should be careful, even if the parking lot is deserted at the moment, Mick is not going to let him even contemplate the possibility of jumping him there and then when they are in public.

Callum at least knows to blush in embarrassment, knowing that he has been caught, and snaps out of it, starting to change as well. He is content in letting Mick drive the return trip back to Maranello, as the German seems less knackered out of the two of them, and he actually drifts off briefly during the short trip. He is only woken up by a squeeze on his thigh by Mick, after they have pulled up into the driveway in front of the place. Neither seem keen on lugging their dismantled bikes back into the house, so they leave the two large bags in the backseat of the car, and retreat inside. They get into the shower quickly to clean themselves, and come back out just in time for their doorbell to ring, with Callum opening the door to welcome Marcus and the take out bags his best friend has brought along, as the Kiwi comes around to “third wheel them”, as he has declared.

“How’s the hills then?” Marcus asks, as Callum helps him to lay out the pizza boxes and takeout boxes for pasta, the rich smell filling his nostrils already making himself salivate, and he makes a little comment about Marcus treating himself for once, before finally getting back on topic.

“Yeah it’s quite fun, good adrenaline rush…” He trails off, when Mick emerges from the corridor and into his line of sight. Not that just the sight of Mick makes his mind go blank, as that would be extremely problematic for him seeing as he would just constantly lose his ability to form sentences. But look, Mick has just walked into the room wearing a tank top that hugs his features quite well. And it is not like Callum does not know what is beneath the piece of clothing - he knows what Mick looks like stark naked - but it is just that this is such a rare sight that Callum is not sure if he has seen it before  _ at all _ , added with the fact he was already staring at Mick before when they were changing at the trail, you cannot blame his brain for just vacating the premises at the sight of that.

“You’re drooling.” Marcus observes helpfully. “You’re that bad, huh?”

He shoves the Kiwi, “shut up. I’m not.”

Mick, seemingly oblivious to the turn of events, just approaches them, complaining about how he could not bear the heat that is shrouding them.

“You could always just not wear a shirt.” Marcus supplies, unhelpfully in Callum’s point of view. He just glares at his best friend.

Mick hums, seemingly wanting to say something before he catches onto what is happening.

“I see what’s happening.” Mick says with raised eyebrows, though he just shoulder checks Callum out of the way so he could grab himself a slice of pizza.

“Come on, the food isn’t going to eat itself, I’m starving.” Mick declares, before he hears a snort from Marcus, that little shit.

Mick looks pointedly at Callum, “not that kind of starving.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” He protests.

“I know you well enough.” Mick shoots back without even looking at him, instead taking another bite out of the food. Marcus just looks incredibly amused next to him, seemingly enjoying himself at the expense of Callum’s predicament.

Knowing that he is not going to get what he wants soon, especially with Marcus over, he instead strikes up a conversation about the Virtual GP rounds that are taking place over the break, with the first one having happened the Sunday just past, and he asks Marcus about his race that day, having seen a highlight clip of the Kiwi commentating on his own race as it happened, and with Callum set to take the wheel in the upcoming one.

Callum cannot even complain, when, later in the afternoon, after Marcus has left them, he gets pressed into the bed, with his hands held above his head, and he lets himself be left at the mercy of Mick, who takes his sweet time with Callum, leaving both of them an overheated panting mess by the end of it. “You just can’t behave, huh?” Mick has muttered against the shell of his ear.

“It’s hard to keep my eyes and hands to myself when you look like this.” Callum responds breathily and belatedly, still catching his breath, coming down from the high.

That draws a helpless laugh out of Mick, who just lightly slaps his stomach, though rolls a bit closer to drape an arm and a leg over Callum, a bit possessively if you ask him.

“You’re not too bad yourself.”

* * *

**13 August 2021**

_ Friday 20:03 CET _

It is late in the evening, after they have gotten their training and food needs out of the way, when Callum starts up his stream at his sim rig. He has neglected to stream until now over the break, and intends to do a little stream of himself practicing for the virtual GP before the actual event on Sunday.

Last time he checked, Mick was starting his late evening session of training, getting more done for his fitness to make up for the occasional slack days and cheat meals he had racked up over the past two weeks during the break. Not that there was a lot, but that was how Mick put it, and as long as Mick is sensible about it, Callum does not see too much of an issue for it. Thus, he leaves his boyfriend alone, and is settled into his playseat, with his stream set up, and greets the regulars he recognises popping up in the chatroom as soon as the notification that he is live gets pushed to people’s phones and emails.

He reads out the chats and talks to the viewers for a while, throwing in silly comments and jokes here and there, letting his usual charm be on show in full force, before diving headlong into a session of Silverstone, having not touched the F1 game from Codemasters in a long time, having raced mostly iRacing in his own time whenever he sits down for a virtual race, so there is a rustiness in him as he gets started. He does get back up to speed relatively quickly, and manages to not spin the car once during his first session while he gets reacquainted with the physics of the game and tries to improve his time.

He does another shorter session with full focus on driving, getting some practice in, before deciding that he has had enough of it for the day, and was contemplating what to do next when he gets called up by George on the phone. A short conversation later, he gets pulled into a discord voice chat with the other guys, including Alex and Charles, and hears that they are thinking of doing some rocket league to pass the time a little. There are also other people on the chat, including Lando who popped in to say hi before going back to playing COD with Dan, as well as Arthur and Marcel, who, if Callum is not mistaken, is the e-Sports guy who helps Alex out with the virtual races.

He lets the scrum of guys take over the airwaves as they joke about stuff, him chipping in here and there when he sees an obvious opportunity to make a remark, and otherwise waits for them as they have been infamous for being a bit clueless with computers in general. He hears Alex complain about his game opening on the wrong screen, and Marcel deadpanning that Alex is a boomer and walking him through how to fix it, so he puts himself back on mute and interacts with his chat for a little more until they are ready to go.

He is in the middle of answering some questions about driving in a free practice session, when he hears the door to the room opening, and he sees Mick pushing into the room as he quickly swivels around to look at the source of the sound. Callum quickly turns fully around and throws a palm up in his direction, stopping Mick in his tracks, praying that Mick has not entered the view of his webcam, lest it sets off a wild frenzy if the word spreads that the elusive-during-off-season Mick Schumacher is being spotted on his stream. Mick quickly registers what is happening and backs away from the door quickly, with Callum shooting him an apologetic look, and Mick gestures that he will text him. Though before he can assess the situation, he hears George’s voice coming through his headphones.

“...if Callum is done with his chat and shows us his beautiful face, then we can start.”

Callum slides back into his seat, not letting his face betray his frantic assessment of the situation, and shoots back with a smile that he was not the one holding everyone up initially and setting off another round of banter in the group, and he uses this moment to glance at the chat, seeing that it has gone wilder than usual. His heart sinks, until he sees that people are asking if it is Marcus, that he breathes a little easier, deciding that he would just ignore it.

He sends a message to George, seeing as he has been looking at Callum’s stream, and knowing that he has enough discretion to know when to keep quiet, if it is needed.

_ From: Callum _

“You saw anything on my stream?”

He hears George trail off from whatever he has been talking about on the voice chat, “oh hang on, let me read this,” and in a few seconds he sees that George is typing out something to reply, while he also sees from his notifications that Mick has just sent him a text.

_ From: George _

“Just that you were out of the seat and someone was at the door.”

“Everything ok?”

He lets out a breath that he does not know he is holding, and quickly taps out a reply.

_ From: Callum _

“No worries, just wanted to check. Thanks mate.”

George speaks up again, urging the guys to get ready for the game, when Callum takes the few seconds he has left to quickly check his text from Mick and to reply to him.

_ From: M❤️ _

“Kinda forgot you said you were going to stream. My bad.”

_ From: Ilotty _

“no, i should have set it up better so people can’t just see the door directly”

“thank fuck people didn’t see who it is. i know you’d hate it.”

_ From: M❤️ _

“dw. It’s alright, enjoy the stream, I’m gonna shower :)”

Callum cannot be blamed for being slightly distracted by the image Mick has just casually put in his head and having his reactions just a touch worse than optimal as he tries to direct his car in the game to hit the ball towards the opposition goal. Hey, he has the excuse that he is also clueless with real football anyway.

A little later, when he calls it a day, Callum finds Mick in their bedroom and sitting on the loveseat, engrossed in a book. He sits down next to his boyfriend, takes the free hand between them and presses a kiss on Mick’s knuckles.

“I’m sorry for that.”

Mick quickly puts down the book on the side table and turns to look at him, reaching out to grab Callum’s hands properly. “None of that, Cal. It was me being careless.”

Callum wants to argue some more, but Mick just puts a finger in front of his lips. If Callum is in a more playful mood, he would have to be resisting a temptation to lick or bite that finger, but that is not a problem right now.

“Most important thing is that nothing has exploded and we’re still just fine, right?”

He cannot argue on that point, so he just scrunches his nose and nods.

“We’ll fix that pesky camera so that you can just walk in without problem.”

Mick lets him have that point. “We can do that later.”

* * *

**15 August 2021**

_ Sunday 07:43 CET _

Callum wakes up a bit disoriented, to the feeling of the bed dipping and Mick moving under his arm. He makes some noises of discontent, before waking up enough to register that Mick is trying (and failing) to get out of bed without Callum realising, given Callum has more or less encased him in his grip in sleep. He cracks open an eye to see that the bedside clock reads 07:43, which could also be translated as too early for a Sunday morning.

He groans, now awake enough to function properly. Mick though, seems pleased to know that Callum is awake. He preempts whatever Mick is going to do though, as he buries his face into Mick’s collarbone. “No. We should sleep more.”

That only serves to amuse Mick, as Callum could feel the vibration of a chuckle, and when he cracks open his eyes again, he sees a crooked smirk on Mick’s face that indicates that he is holding back a laugh while trying to say something. “Well. Last night you said we should sleep less.”

He blindly reaches out to tweak one of Mick’s nipples.

“Ow!” Mick yells, trying to shove Callum off him and only partly succeeding because Callum has decided to make himself deadweight and not cooperate with his boyfriend.

“What are you doing anyway?” Callum groans, eyes now wide open and awake, stretching his back and letting out a yawn, trying to get his limbs awake as well. He might as well get up now that he is wide awake, and he knows Mick is not going to scrap his plans if it is something he has set his mind on doing.

“We’re going for a run.” Mick says, like it is the normalest of things.

Except that Mick loathes running.

“We what now?” He frowns, side eyeing Mick who has already sat up and is now looking at Callum expectantly, reaching over to poke him in the side.

“Yep, you heard me right.” Mick affirms. “I’m going to prove that I’m going to beat you even if I hate running.”

Callum throws an arm over his own eyes and sighs. He may have said something about Mick is going to lose to him while they were randomly bickering about something concurrently with their Mario Kart race. And he might have also agreed to race Mick last night while they were in bed, doing  _ things _ . But, one has to consider that he was a panting mess, desperate for some contact and release, or just general attention and ministrations from Mick. But… yeah, he did agree to it and then got what he wanted from Mick.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Mick nudges him, moving to get off the bed himself. Callum grabs a hold of his wrist before he can go any further.

“I’m coming with you.” Callum says, partly because he is not one to back down from a challenge, but also partly because if he is not about to renege on a promise to Mick, plus the fact that his boyfriend seems intent on going for a run regardless of whether Callum is joining him - uncharacteristic in itself, so he figures he should keep him company anyway.

Mick looks at him skeptically. “I don’t want you to feel forced.”

“You hate running. And you seem to be going regardless if I’m coming with or not. I’ll keep you company even if I did not promise to race you.”

Turns out, Mick has promised his trainer that he would go for a run this week as part of his training, so Mick has no way to get out of it. Callum had asked if he had considered doing the treadmill or cycling machine in the gym as a substitute instead, but Mick figured he might as well go for a run for real for some fresh air, and he definitely would mind it even less if Callum is coming with.

Turns out, Mick still very much dislikes going on runs, but he does not exactly look like he is suffering as Callum occasionally steals a glance of him as they run with each other, and in the end Callum just about edges Mick by the end of the four kilometers they did together. Callum made a pointed comment about doubting if Mick really loathes running, though he knows for a fact he does because he has always seen Mick taking alternatives for cardio rather than running outright. Mick also vows revenge that he would beat him next time.

“Are you really going to put yourself through another run just to beat me?”

“Probably not.”

* * *

_ Sunday 17:21 CET _

Callum had shown up at the factory at least an hour and a half early in preparation for the virtual GP, both him and Robert taking their time to have the help to set up their games properly, as well making sure that both their streams were running correctly. While waiting for help to get set up, Robert crouches next to Callum’s seat, and shows Callum some pictures and memes that interest him that he has found on the internet lately, and they whisper among themselves, joking about things on his phone screen. They spend another few minutes trying to figure out how does a squad stream on Twitch works, before he sets off in the game, driving some laps against the computer to practice and get himself in the groove, whilst he can hear Robert somewhere in the background joking in Italian and laughing, as well as passing by and obviously filming him as he walks past.

He sits there and winds up Robert next to him, when they are waiting for the event to start, talking about how Robert should do the stream in Russian and scream like he is playing a first person shooter while driving the car in the game; or alternatively channel his inner Italian and try become an honorary citizen of the country with his often flexes of his Italian skills, though probably having to keep quiet about his opinion about how to cook pasta, or when a person should drink cappuccinos. Rob just rolls his eyes at him, throwing back some insults about Callum being clueless with shooting games, or his long running aiding and abetting of Marcus’ mission of insulting every Italian alive with pineapples with pizza. That launches them into another round of laughter, somehow meandering to discussions about Robert’s alleged fake Instagram followers at one point, before they finally need to calm down and focus on the race at hand, even if it is just a virtual race on a game that just drives differently than how it does in real life.

The race itself is not too bad, the competitiveness in them never really leaves them even if it is just a game, and there are some good battles here and there throughout. With the amount of practice he has put in to his advantage, Callum has had an upper hand when compared to some others, and he manages to hold on his position in the top five for much of the race, making progress as the race goes on, at one point leading at the front after overtaking George. That battle, however, slowed up both of them for a bit, and used up more tyre life on his virtual medium tyre than he would have wanted, which compromised his race a little, and after a few laps of hard defending, he ended up dropping to third place, where he finished the race. Nonetheless, if you ask Callum, he is still happy enough with the result, finishing it with a podium is not too bad of an outcome, considering the strength of the field for the event. He hangs around for a while longer, letting his heart rate return to normal, as well as interact with his own chat with a smile tugging on his face. A few minutes later, he gets pulled into the broadcast, which is looking for reactions in the aftermath of the race, he places his headphone back on, and waves at the camera with a grin when he hears Alex Jacques talking briefly about Callum’s race, before finally addressing him directly.

“And here we have the man himself, Callum Ilott racing for FDA eSports for this Virtual Grand Prix. Congratulations on the podium, Callum, any immediate thoughts for how the race turned out for you?”

“Well, hello, can you hear me?”

“Yup, loud and clear.”

“See I’m still a noob with all this streaming stuff even after so many years.” He laughs. “It was quite a good race for me, had some good battles with George, led for a while, but then just ran out of talent. Can’t complain about P3 though.”

“It certainly was a good race for you, and entertaining as always. Thanks for talking to us, we’ll let you go and move on to your teammate, Robert Shwartzman,” Alex says, as Callum waves at the camera, before he switches back to his stream, and proceeds to look at the livestream of the virtual GP, alternating between talking to chat, and commenting on what is being shown on the feed. He also picks up his phone and looks at the chat in the virtual GP discord, as well as his own texts, responding to some of them where he feels like it. Marcus, who predictably did not watch the race, asks if he had fucked up the race, Callum just sends him a middle finger emoji in response.

He also sees a text from Mick, and he opens it without delay as soon as he spots it.

_ From: M❤️ _

“Race done?”

“I’m at the factory, actually.”

He was dropped off by Mick earlier in the afternoon, as Mick was going to be at the Haas factory down the street for some meeting and sim work as well in preparation for the restart of the season. Callum has told him that if he is done earlier that he does not need to wait up for him, but evidently Mick has decided otherwise, given the fact that he has come back up the road and came into the Ferrari factory. Not that Mick would have any trouble coming inside, considering who he is, but still.

_ From: Ilotty _

“Wrapping up soon. Rob and I are still streaming.”

He goes to wrap up the stream quickly after that, thanking everyone for stopping by and wishing everyone to stay safe and healthy. Robert raises his eyebrows in question, seeing as Callum has been leisurely chilling just a few minutes before, so Callum gestures Robert to put his mic on mute before leaning over to whisper in his ear that Mick is here. Robert lets out an “ah” and a look that reads ‘everything makes sense now’ with a nod, and pushes him, telling him to go then, and Callum does not need to be told twice, disappearing behind the red boards in the room and fist bumping a few of the staff on the way out, and ducking out into the corridor in search of a certain blond.

He has just sent out a text to Mick that he is looking for him, when he clocks a red cap in the common room, and he sees Mick turning over, holding a cup of his tea and waving at him with his free hand. Callum has just gotten to him when Mick sets down the cup and stands up to meet him.

“How’s the race then?” Mick asks, bumping into Callum to get him to start walking with him out of the room.

“Not bad. P3.” Callum reports, before asking after Mick’s afternoon. “How’s work then?”

“Nothing much, it’s just me at the meetings and the sim so everything is straightforward. The usual talk about aero performance and all that, you know.”

They come face to face with Robert at the lobby of the building, who smiles widely as he greets Mick, doing a random handshake with him before launching into a chat about doing something more interesting than a race on a game or something to that effect. “He’d have everyone play CS if he has his way.” Callum interjects, which leads to Robert taking full offense and saying that there is nothing wrong with playing CS at all, and the smirking-and-trying-not-to-laugh look appears on Mick’s face again, saying how it would probably scare away all the sponsors if they do it as an official thing for the virtual F1 events.

They end up deciding to eat at the cafeteria at the factory, joking around and having a good time together before finally parting ways when they are done with their meals, with the sun hanging low in the sky and the first hints of the night appearing over the horizon.

* * *

**16 August 2021**

_ Monday 17:49 CET _

Full of boredom, late in the afternoon, Callum sits down in front of his computer, firing it up and starts scrolling around the library of games he has, trying to figure out what to play. He had started the day going to train together with Mick and their respective trainers, cycling through their familiar sets of routine to keep their fitness up and ready for races or even just the simulator in general, keeping their strength up to extract the performance needed of them as racing drivers. They had headed back for lunch together, but then Mick had gone back for an afternoon session of training, seeing as his itinerary for the day was literally just training, so Callum was left to his own devices.

He heads straight down to the factory to do some simulator work for the upcoming races, going back to his usual duties of doing prep work for the team, but then after being done and dismissed for the day, the day is still relatively young. Thus he had headed home and called up his parents and caught up with them, updating them on what he has been up to over the break and asking after them as well, his mother also picking up Poppy and showing her to him in front of the FaceTime camera, Callum making sure to remind them to give her lots of pets for him while he is away until he could do it himself.

He had even gone on Instagram, screwed around for a little bit and posted the photo Mick had taken of him in Florence a week or two ago - the one where he is the only person in frame in the alleyway and looking off to the side - and saw how the number of likes rocketed and Marcus leaving a joke comment within minutes, and Callum shooting back some witty reply as well.

So gaming it is, and he starts up COD and opens up his Twitch stream, deciding that a quick stream is on order, that he could mindlessly do something that is not racing related and entertain the group of fans a little. He chats with them for a little while, before the lobby gets going and he promptly gets drawn into the chaos that always unfolds in these games, only occasionally glancing back and reading chat and trying to reply without distracting himself from the game, taking shots at other players while trying to dodge from their attacks. It is a bit of an easy time killer for him, as he gets into a few matches, interacts with the people in the chatroom in between, and an hour or so passes by in a flash. He even picks up a call from Marcus somewhere in between, and they briefly discuss their plans to do another instalment of their podcast, before getting into one last round of the game and calling it a day afterwards.

Just as he is thanking people for stopping by and spending some time with him, he hears the front door opening - talk about his immaculate timing - and he shuts the stream down, poking his head out into the corridor and sees a slightly sweaty Mick entering the living room, with his cap worn backwards to keep his hair out of his eyes.

“You’re soaked,” Callum comments as he approaches him.

“Was quite a hard session.” Mick responds, flexing and stretching a little bit, his whole posture sagging a little bit that is indicative of his tiredness, “I need a shower, like, now.”

Callum nudges him along with his foot nudging Mick’s calf, “go clean yourself, I’ll get us started on dinner.”

He pulls out his phone, running down the list of recipes that their trainers have given them and picking some of the stuff that they both like better and get started on them, working with the several pans on the hob he has in front of him and trying not to get distracted and accidentally burn something. Mick sits himself on the kitchen island behind Callum when he returns from the shower, not bothering to push his hair out of his eyes and just watches Callum work on the food, only helping to lay out dishes for Callum to serve when the food is ready a good ten or fifteen minutes later.

They sit down on the couch, each holding a bowl of food in their hands, and in front of the television, with the lights of the house dimmed. They play the film they have started but not yet finished a few weeks ago, the day when the guys came around to hang out in the pool, rewinding back a bit further to recap themselves on what exactly is happening in the story. Callum could tell that Mick is probably not going to make it to the end of the film, even before they are done with the food, as he notices how slow Mick is with his food, like he is moving in slow motion as he digs into his dinner, and how his eyes are just a little droopy.

No later than ten or fifteen minutes after they are done with dinner, with both their bowls placed on the coffee table in front of them between the couch and the television, Callum feels a weight landing on his side, with Mick curling up a little against him. “I just need a few minutes.” Mick mutters, relaxing into Callum. Callum nods and hums, letting Mick do his thing and continues with watching the film.

A good half hour later, when the credits start rolling, Mick is still leaning against Callum, perhaps a bit more onto him, considering how the Brit has rearranged himself into the corner of the couch so Mick is more resting his head on his chest rather than his shoulder, and pulling an arm around Mick to hold him in place. The blond shows no signs of waking up, and were it not for the fact that they have a bed that is infinitely more comfortable than a couch, he would have let Mick sleep on him just there and then, but they do have a bed, so Callum reluctantly and gently shakes Mick.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Mick first mumbles something incoherent and buries himself deeper into Callum’s chest, which is endearing in any case, but makes Callum’s task harder nonetheless. He eventually manages to coax Mick to cooperate with him beyond being just a deadweight, and manages to navigate both of them back into the bedroom and deposit the blond onto the bed above the covers. It is summer anyway, so they do not exactly need the duvet. Callum goes on to shut off all the lights in the house and climb into bed as well, with it still being relatively early in the evening, deciding to surf around on the internet for a little more before finally going to bed. Mick is deep in the realms of sleep by then, his breathing slow and steady next to Callum.

* * *

**17 August 2021**

_ Tuesday 10:01 CET _

Callum probably has too much time on his hands, he figures, as it is just ten in the morning and he is already on his phone scrolling around on social media out of boredom, looking to see if anything takes his fancy and help pass his time for a while. He watches a few tiktoks here and there that amuses him, but then switches over to instagram, going through the profiles of his friends to see if there is something interesting to look at.

After leaving a comment on Jake’s latest post on Instagram, he switches over to JM’s profile, landing on the clip of him doing the dune buggy that he has seen before, which they have also talked about at the start of summer break when they were still in Hungary. It is not something Callum has done before, but he can gather a vague idea of potentially how fun it could be doing something like that, seeing how the car that is nearly barebones drifting and skidding across the loose surface of the dirt roads, zooming through the route at a high speed across bumps and undulation of the terrain that it tears through. He wonders if there is some place that might be possible for something like this, that does not require travelling to far-flung corners of the continent, or even just straight-up to another continent altogether.

That sets him off into a rabbithole of internet searches, as he thinks of keywords to put into the browser to see if there is anything interesting that it spits out.

* * *

_ Tuesday 11:43 CET _

This is how Mick finds his boyfriend, nearing lunchtime, having come back from the PR obligations for the team, filming some stuff at the factory in the morning and also getting some actual preparation work done as well. Mick comes into the house hearing the speaker playing some ambient music - signs that Callum is up and about - but having a distinct lack of acknowledgement of any kind of Mick’s arrival that more often than not would happen whenever Mick comes home to Callum.

He finds Callum sitting at the kitchen island on one of their stools, fully engrossed in whatever he is looking at on his laptop - apparently some search results on  _ Bing _ . Who uses Bing, really? Mick instead places his chin over Callum’s shoulder, and whispers into his ear.

“I’d have thought you’re looking at some super hot guys or something if I didn’t know better given how you just ignored me.”

Callum jumps in place a little at the contact, but then turns around, displacing Mick in the process, just to roll his eyes at him and pinch his nose in retaliation. Mick swats Callum’s hand away, letting out an indignant yell as he does so, managing to grab hold of one of Callum’s wrist, which Callum uses as a leverage to pull Mick closer unexpectedly, causing him to half stumble into Callum’s space, while Callum pokes the tip of Mick’s nose.

“The only reason I’m not doing that is the fact there aren't shirtless photos of you flying all over the internet.”

Mick takes a moment to register that quip, before he tries to push away from Callum, huffing that he is insufferable.

“Love you too.” Callum says cheerily, not remotely affected by Mick’s hyperbolic declaration.

“What were you doing anyway?” Mick asks, gesturing at Callum’s laptop, upon which Callum turns it over so that Mick could take a look at what he is actually looking at, and Micksees that Callum is for some reason looking at dune buggy locations inside Italy. He turns back over to look at his boyfriend quizzically.

“You want to do some dune buggying. I assume?” Mick says, as he pulls another stool closer so he could sit down next to Callum. “Something took your fancy?”

“Just that I saw JM’s video of him doing it and thought it’s interesting.”

Mick takes over Callum’s laptop and starts looking at things Callum has open, while his boyfriend pulls out the pots and pans to make something quick for both of them. They talk about the idea while the food is getting prepared, Mick clicking on different links he finds on the internet and reading out the contents to Callum, throwing in comments here and there about what he has just read. Sardinia comes up a few times, so Mick files that away among the various notes he has organised on his phone as an idea that he could come back to later. It might be planning just a little ahead when they still have half a season to navigate, but it is just a logical conclusion that it is something they might do during the off season, if they end up deciding to go for it, and that if the situation then is possible for that to happen. Mick also says Callum could bug Juan about it, if he really ends up coming down to their place to hang out after Monza.

The chatter about future holiday plans eventually dwindle out, with their lunch finished and plates placed in the sink. Callum sits on the floor in front of a fan to cool himself off in the summer heat, while Mick sits behind him on the couch, his legs bracketing either side of Callum but not touching, and scrolling on his phone. It is a quieter day for both of them, as neither have plans for the afternoon beyond a quick training session, and neither seem intent on going out - for stuff like hikes or maybe hanging out at one of the cafés.

“What do we do today?” Mick asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence, just relaxing himself against the couch, jostling Callum with his foot.

“We can do Netflix,” Callum says, raising his head to look at the ceiling, “or,” turning to press a kiss on Mick’s inner thigh, “we could do something  _ fun _ .”

Mick chuckles. He is not even surprised. “You’re insatiable.” He says, though he also cannot suppress the smirk that is finding its way onto his face involuntarily.

He decides to play it coy, since they have some time on their hands anyway.

“Netflix is fun too.” He says, “come on, pick something then.”

No one needs to know if Mick slides down to the floor, wedged between Callum’s back and the couch, someway through some comedy that Callum has picked. Or that he teased the shit out of Callum without saying a thing, while both of them still keep up with the pretence of watching said comedy that is still playing on screen. Or that Callum is onto him hungrily when Mick finally decides he has had enough fun with it and moves them into the bedroom.

* * *

**18 August 2021**

_ Wednesday 14:44 CET _

[Marcus] “I’m Marcus Armstrong, and as per usual, I have Callum Ilott, sitting across the table - welcome back to the podcast where neither of us know what we are doing.”

[Callum] “You don’t know what you’re doing. I do.”

They had been talking about doing an instalment or two for the podcast over summer break, given it is one of the few opportunities where they are both in the same place and have enough time on their hands to sit down and just talk for a few hours without having to worry about what happens before or after, or there being unexpected things that come up and shuffle around their schedules. The only reason they have waited until when the Spa weekend is literally on the horizon is… well, procrastination. Mostly on Marcus’ part, while Callum is probably too busy spending every free second he has with Mick. But that is besides the point, since at least they are going to get one done now, after all. At Marcus’ insistence, they have moved to Callum and Mick’s place for this recording, commandeering their office to become the podcasting booth, with Marcus claiming that it has  _ better acoustics _ , as if he knows what he is talking about.

Mick is out at the gym with his trainer, so he naturally does not have much objections to it, while Callum just agrees to it because that means he does not have to travel closer into the town center to Marcus’s place, and he is perfectly fine with that.

[Marcus] “Whatever, we’re here in Callum’s fancy place, which is even bigger than our old place. I can see why he moved out on me.”

[Callum] *snort* “You’re the one who moved out. Anyway, we’re back here talking about a bunch of random crap, so I don’t know why you’re still here, but let’s get into it - I have a long list of things in Marcus’s scrawl sitting in front of me. So. The first thing is… hair product?”

[Marcus] “Mhm. You see, Callum does use hair products, gels and all that, but every other picture you’ll see his hair falling into his eyes - so Callum, what’s going on with that?”

There is also a comment Marcus made after the question that is entirely inappropriate to be included in the podcast, so Callum scribbles down the time so someone could cut that, as well as his retort, out of the final product later.

[Callum] “I’ll have you know that I’m the most beautiful racing driver you’ve ever seen.”

[Marcus] “Well someone might think that, not me though.”

Callum shoots him a glare.

[Callum] “You just have no taste.”

* * *

_ Wednesday 16:03 CET _

When Mick returns from the gym, he can hear the voices of Callum and Marcus coming out of the office, apparently still recording their podcast, from what he could gather out of the snippets of things they are saying as he passes by the door to put down his things in the room and to go get another shower to clean himself up.

“So here’s another question from our listeners,” Marcus says, “what is Callum doing next year?”

Mick hears a chuckle, “well, if I have a crystal ball I’ll tell you.” He hears a snort from Marcus too. “Who knows what’s going to happen? Hey, I don’t even know if I am going to be up to something for the rest of the year. There’s still a lot of time and anything could happen.”

When Mick comes back from the shower, they are still recording, as Mick opens the door to the office quietly and steps in just enough to be seen by both of them, as Callum is talking about how Marcus goes to the gym way too much that he might as well just buy a gym and live there permanently. Marcus spots him first, and waves at him silently, while Callum is alerted to his presence by Marcus’ actions, and he quickly wraps up his point.

“Let’s put a cut in here,” he says, scribbling down something on a paper before walking over to give Mick a quick hug. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself. How’s the podcast?”

“Pretty good. We’ll probably do another half hour or something and decide on how to edit it later.”

“I’ll get started on dinner then.” Mick decides, “Marcus? You wanna stay for dinner?”

“Thought you’re just gonna kick me out when we’re done here.” Marcus says.

Before Mick could conjure up any response, Callum interjects. “He’s just being polite.” Mick shoves him. “I’m not mean like you.”

He ignores Callum’s offended look, and instead pats him on the shoulder and backs out of the room. “Risotto sounds good? And no, Marcus, don’t tell me carbs are bad, you can eat some of those.”

Before the duo can object to anything he has just said - on different points - Mick has exited the room and shut the door behind him, leaving the two of them with their podcast and busies himself with making dinner. He pulls on his headphones and sets it to Callum’s playlist - a habit these days - so he could have some music to entertain him while also not providing unneeded background noise to the podcast that Marcus would probably not appreciate. Or he would like it, it is hard to guess how the Kiwi tick sometimes, but Mick is not taking the chance.

* * *

**22 August 2021**

_ Sunday 20:29 CET _

Callum unceremoniously flops himself onto Mick on the couch, his head cushioned by Mick’s chest, and his position a little awkward, using his own arm to prop himself up against the armrest of the couch. Mick’s fingers automatically find their way into his hair, mindful not to tug on them, lest it sets off another complaint from Callum about his receding hairline. Callum adjusts himself a little, so that he is sitting more upright, and leaning against Mick.

Both of them are highly aware that their summer break is coming to an end, having packed their bags earlier in the afternoon, and that their flights up to Belgium are due to leave the next evening from Bologna. That their summer bubble of mostly being each other is coming to an end, and that they are returning to the circus that is Formula 1. You cannot really blame Callum for being a little wistful over the break ending, even if he is more natural with being around people and thrives even with attention - the little space that he and Mick carved out together just for themselves over the summer, away from prying eyes, judgement, attention and pressure of what they do is just something that both of them enjoyed a lot, being able to be carefree and just be themselves for a little while. Mick evidently is in a similar situation, as he throws his free arm around Callum to pull him tighter, and he buries his nose into Callum’s hair and breathes in.

“This summer was good.” Mick comments, eventually, after minutes of comfortable silence of them being in the same position and just being there. Callum makes a hum in assent, placing a hand of his own over Mick’s arm that is around his frame. “I loved every second that I spent with you.”

“We’ll manage going back. We’ve done that before, and we can continue doing that.” Mick decides, and it is perfectly reasonable, but there is also the fact that they had not spent weeks on end with each other in person continuously away from the racing world before, so there is a difference there. But it is all semantics anyway, he knows they will manage no matter what.

Eventually, Callum picks up the conversation again. “So… Spa huh?”

They have a complex relationship with Spa, to say the least. It is the track where Mick’s father made his debut, secured his first win, and the place where he wrapped up his seventh title. There had always been great fanfare about Schumacher and Spa, and Mick had done a few demonstration runs at the track using his father’s cars over the years when he was driving in the lower formulas.

On the other hand, the accident that happened a few years ago also still lie fresh in both their minds, that it is a place they have lost a friend of theirs, an incident that had hit Callum hard, and has not really receded much even as the years roll by.

“It’s just one weekend, we’ll be fine.”

* * *

**25 August 2021**

_ Wednesday 14:44 CET _

It is after the track walk, after the scrum of photographers, after the stop that everyone makes at the exit of Radillion. It is after the light lunch he had, and after Mick had long moments to himself to collect his thoughts, having gotten through the hectic and emotionally charged morning that they all had. He sits at the deserted outdoor sitting area atop the hospitality building of his team, with Juan across him, both overlooking the busy paddock life that is going on below them.

He does not ask Juan how he is, knowing how fresh still that accident is on him, even with the years that have gone by since. He knows how it still lingers on the minds of a lot of people still, in their world where nearly everyone knows everyone, and especially for people that were here on that day, like for his boyfriend, and even for himself to a large extent.

On his track walk in the morning, he had ran into Juan - or more accurately, had come upon the scene of Juan, now upright, placing a hand on the tire barrier that is conspicuously without advertising, with his head bowed and eyes closed, tension apparent in his shoulders. The Juan that is next to him now is a little more relaxed, though maybe also a little more quiet and tired than one would expect given the time of day and given that it is Juan.

“You seem different, in a way.” Juan says a few minutes later, the first words that he has said since joining Mick out here under the blazing sun, only shielded by a measly sunbrella that hangs over where they are seated.

Emerging from the little bubble that he and Callum carved for themselves, Mick had been rejuvenated and happy, being even more content with his life than he had been before. Coming back to the limelight does not exactly come as a shock to his system, as it has been the same tango he had been through for the years gone by, and he had not suddenly forgotten how to operate in this very public world that he normally lives his life in, and the pressures that come to him from a multitude of sources. He had done quite well, all things considered, doing the minimum press duty of what is required of him on the occasion of a Schumacher returning to Spa, and otherwise keeping to himself in public and being the professional that he is working for his team. It is just a reminder of how tiring it could be sometimes, living this way, and it is only now that he has started to let himself loose a little, in the privacy offered by their elevation from the rest of the paddock.

“Well, I’m still blond and I’m still handsome...” Mick starts, seizing upon the opportunity to be himself and wind his friend up just a little.

Predictably, he gets a punch in the shoulder with an exasperated sigh from Juan.

“You’re lovedrunk.” Juan states, not intending to leave any room for argument. “And starting to sound like Callum.”

“Sounds like an insult to both of us.” Mick shoots back.

Juan shrugs with a raised eyebrow, as if Mick is just proving his point, and otherwise ignores the retort. “How’ve you guys been over the break? You basically fell off the face of the earth, and your man is also not driving people up the wall on the internet twenty-four-seven.”

“I thought I was doing everyone a favour keeping him off Twitter most of the days, no? But, yeah, chill summer. Missed my dog, but it was quite nice.” Mick shrugs. “Callum’s been well too. You haven’t seen him yet?”

“Nah. Ferrari’s keeping him busy or something. Probably joining him for dinner tonight or something.”

“That’s good, he’d get tired of me real quick if he doesn’t see other people soon.” Mick nods, as if he is saying water is wet.

“Well there’s fake news if I’ve ever seen one.”

* * *

**26 August 2021**

_ Thursday 11:37 CET _

Callum had just been standing to the side chatting with one of the Sauber mechanics that he had worked with before, when someone more or less bumps into his shoulder - which is a bit ludicrous considering how wide open the area he has been standing in where people could lie on the ground and roll past and still not come close to touching Callum, until he realises that it is very much deliberate considering that he sees that it is Mick that is now standing next to him, his shoulder still very much connected to Callum’s. Mick picks up the conversation with no difficulty at all, as he makes comments about the support races that are coming up and the championship fights in the junior formulas, and about his experience driving a tin-top that one time he tested a DTM car when he was still in F3.

A few minutes later, Mick gets Callum to himself finally - the original intent of crashing into Callum, if Callum has to guess - though he also notes that it is a thing that Mick does a lot, bumping into Callum randomly. He walks with Mick as they make their way further down the paddock, which is not too busy at the moment with the absence of fans and team personnel mostly located in garages and hospitality buildings.

As far as Callum is aware, he has a much more relaxed schedule for the day than Mick, with just two or three things for his team that he must show up for, and otherwise left to his own devices; while his boyfriend has quite a lot more to do with his commitments with the media, his team, as well as other meetings that he has to go to, like the drivers’ meeting before the weekend commences. He is content to walk with Mick, if that is what his boyfriend wants, considering the circumstances as well as the fact that he really does not have anything better to do right this moment. There is also the fact that he knows Mick more often than not would have something he wants to say to Callum in circumstances like these, so he goes along with it and waits.

“My mother is coming this evening,” Mick says lowly, when they round the bend to an even quieter part of the paddock, affording them some privacy that is hard to come by when they are at the track. “You can drop by if you want to meet her,” he pauses, as if contemplating something with a nonchalant shrug that Callum is quite certain is fake, “no pressure on that though, she is just coming…” Mick continues, though he does not finish the thought, as Callum places a hand on his arm and squeezes him, halting both Mick’s movements and train of thought.

“I’ll come by if I’m not intruding, considering I already monopolised you for the whole summer.” Callum tells him with no uncertainty.

Mick seems to consider it for a moment, before deciding he accepts the way Callum had put it, and also does not argue on whether he had been monopolised by Callum or not considering that he was more than willing in participating to be monopolised himself.

Instead he nods, smiles warmly such that the crinkles reach his eyes underneath the mask (unlike the polite smile he has most of the time when talking to the press), and bumps into Callum again so that they both start walking again. As they walk, Mick tells him about the latest bit of rumour he had heard spreading through the paddock about the ins and outs among the teams, with Aston bolstering their ranks in the technical department with some well-regarded names. Callum does not even have to guess to know that it has to be something that Seb has told Mick in passing considering the tendency that the two Germans hang out with each other whenever they are at races, with Sebastian holding to his word to be what Michael had been for him.

They finally part ways when they get to the FIA building where Mick has a meeting to attend, and Callum makes no mention of the fact that he is aware that they have taken the most indirect route to get to this place, with all the wrong turns that they have taken along the way considering that this is their destination. One look at Mick tells him enough that his boyfriend is well aware of what he has done, and Callum cannot say that he faults him a single bit, considering they have managed to eek out some more time with each other while they have to be apart for extended stretches during the race weekend, with their respective commitments that they have to attend to. Callum pats Mick on the shoulder with a tilt of his head, and lightly pushes Mick in the direction of the entrance while he pulls away himself, getting on with his business - he looks at his watch - of doing nothing in particular until the first meeting he has to go to after lunch.

* * *

**26 August 2021**

_ Thursday 19:04 CET _

What Callum had not really anticipated, when he agreed to go along with Mick to meet his mother, is to have Mick text him a time and have the location to be the backdoor of the hotel given they literally stay at the same building, or that there being a nondescript car pulling up to him and seeing that Mick is the driver when the window rolls down.

Or perhaps it should be everything he anticipated, with their natural gravitation towards privacy and staying out of the limelight when given the option and opportunity to do so. The place they head to is not that far away from the hotel and the track, and while it is not exactly out of the way, they have been given ample privacy with the separation and screens that are set up.

It is hardly the first time Callum had met Mick’s mother, though not as often as he had when compared to the family of other drivers, though it is definitely the first time under the premise that he is with Mick. Callum is nonetheless his confident self, finding little difficulty to join the conversations, though also mindful to filter what he says, lest he talks his way into trouble if he blurts some smart remark or comment that he thinks is funny before he thinks it through properly.

Dinner goes by in a blur, in part because it is relatively quick given Mick cannot exactly stay up late when he has a car to drive in the morning, in part because the whole circumstance is thankfully not awkward or uncomfortable for Callum. His usual charms seem to work with Corinna as well, and the conversations they share as well as the time in general is pleasant, talking about horses - something Callum is not desperately clueless about given his sister’s involvement in them, about their respective dogs at home, and just generally about life outside racing. He also let the pair to do the talking for stretches of time, letting them have the space to catch up after Mick had spent all summer away from home, and he also saw them communicating just by looks for a few moments, but given that Mick was smiling by the end of it, he thinks everything is fine.

Callum got to the car first, getting it running and waiting outside as Mick had a few more words with his mother before joining him for the trip back to the hotel. Mick joins him a few minutes later, after Callum sees in the rear view mirror Corinna being driven off in another car and Mick seeing her off. Mick seems bright, and there is no uncertainty that he is in a good mood.

“Alright?” Callum asks as Mick buckles up, and he puts the car into drive to get going as well. Mick hums in assent.

“She likes you.” Mick states a few seconds later, “I think it went quite well.”

“No need to worry when it’s me, do you? Everyone loves me.” Callum quips. In the back of his mind, he knows that Mick is not exactly known for being eloquent with talking about feelings, and that he had worries that he had not let on at the prospect of introducing Callum as his boyfriend. Everything went well though, so that is all secondary now.

Mick snorts at his comment, though he lets his hand be held by Callum in the centre console nonetheless. Callum could see the hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips whenever he glances over to look at him. It is not like he is checking on him, but when you have someone as stunning as Mick to call your own, it is only natural for Callum to feel like he will never get enough of his fill of the sight of Mick. Humour him on this point, if you will.

* * *

**28 August 2021**

_ Saturday 16:26 CET _

When the white ART car crosses the line for the last time of the second sprint race with the pack trailing behind it, Callum does not even care whether he is allowed to enter the pitlane area that is currently populated by F3 teams and personnel. He slips through an opening through the Ferrari garage and makes his way down the side of the pitlane as the cars pass by him up the pits, having entered the pits from the wrong end at the end of the race.

The car with the number nine has just come to a stop in front of the P1 board when Callum arrives at the front of the pits, and he quickly offers his congratulations to Fred and Arthur on their podium positions, before walking up a little closer to the ART, with JM, in his unmistakable helmet, standing on the nose of the car, looking up into the sky. He waits off to the side, until Juan hops off of the car, and Callum walks up to pull him into a tight hug, patting him on the back.

“This is for him.” Juan says. If they are aware that Juan’s voice is just a little wobbly, neither make a mention of it.

Juan has just won his first race since coming back to racing. In Belgium no less.

“It is for him indeed.”

Callum pulls back and lets Juan go on his way to his team with a pat on the shoulder, before slipping back behind the barriers and running into Mick, who has just come up to the congregation of personnel in the pits as well. Mick manages to squeeze through the crowd of team personnel and bump fists with Juan and quickly hug him over the barrier. Callum hangs around to the side to wait up for Mick.

He turns and walks with Mick down the back of the crowd in front of the podium to watch the ceremony, neither talking much despite it being plainly obvious that they are both thinking of the occasion and what it really means.

They walk side by side back into the paddock, talking about Mick’s qualifying session and other things, ducking out of the way of reporters and cameras that may be looking for their reactions to the events - much thanks to Mick’s alertness to these things and pulling Callum along.

* * *

**29 August 2021**

_ Sunday 19:47 CET _

Another pointless race limited by the deficiencies of the car out of the way. Mick had gone through the motions of the post-race, stopping for his PR duties, the engineering meetings and debriefs after that, the quick chat with Guenther before he packed up for the day and all that.

It is not like he is particularly bothered by the result of the race. Okay, that is a lie. Competitiveness is innate in him, and he would always fight to be better and improve, and would not settle for anything other than a win. It is just given the circumstances of his team, his car, and himself being a rookie. He knows to set manageable goals for himself, and he would have been happy had he had bagged a point or two this year all things considered, but it is something that he had not managed to achieve this weekend. He would just keep his head down, work harder and try again next time.

What really bothers him, he supposes, is the heightened attention on him given they are in Spa, and the questions that were posed to him by some of the journalists referencing his result in the race. He does not think carrying his surname is a burden, not in a bad way anyway, but in times like these, he has thoughts on how people perceive him. He is of course his father’s son, but he is also his own person, and he supposes he is just getting tired of the comparisons and lines of questioning that inevitably focuses on the fact that he is a Schumacher, be it explicitly or implicitly.

He had not managed to catch Callum in the paddock in the post-race scrum, but he had headed straight for Callum’s room as soon as he arrives back at the hotel, and let out these thoughts after being sat down on the bed by Callum and being prompted for his thoughts, with it being apparent to his boyfriend that something is swirling in his head.

Callum had let him do the talking, and when he is done, he gets a simple response from the Brit, like it is as uncomplicated as he makes it sound. “Well, screw those people.”

“They aren’t people that matter” Callum continues, when Mick does not have a good response to Callum’s reaction to the situation, “people who you call friends and trust in the paddock and in your life are there because you are you, not because who your father is. I’m here because you’re Mick and I can’t have enough of you, and not because of anything else. If they can’t see it this way, they aren’t worth your time. It can be so simple.”

And maybe it really can be that simple. Mick lets out an airy laugh, commenting how Callum makes things sound so uncomplicated.

“Well, less things to worry about means less stress. And you know, gotta balance out your philosophical tendencies.”

Mick does not even bother to argue, instead shoving Callum with a fond shake of his head and reaching over to pick up the room service menu to decide on what to have for dinner.

Callum feigns hurt. “And to think you are unmoved to the fact that I just said I can’t have enough of you.”

Mick snorts, a smile involuntarily tugging at the corner of his lips at how dramatic Callum could be sometimes. “You’ll live.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come drop by my Tumblr: [schulott](https://schulott.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Comments are appreciated! I reply to them eventually I promise
> 
> There's 3 or 4 more instalments planned to round out 2021 (and thus the series), but let's see how long it'll take me lol  
> Until next time!


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